MMA News

Drake Riggs - February 28, 2019

https://twitter.com/ufc/status/1101244789003964416 UFC 235 goes down on Saturday night and it’s a loaded card full of big names from top to bottom. In the night’s co-main event, the UFC welterweight title will be battled over between the champion, Tyron Woodley, and the challenger, Kamaru Usman. Despite not being involved with this fight as many expected him to be in the preceding months, former interim champion of the division, Colby Covington made his presence felt on Thursday.

Jason Kindschy - February 28, 2019

We kick things off with the surging UFC welterweight coming off a fight of year candidate in his win over Bryan Barberena at UFC Phoenix, “The Silent Assassin” Vicente Luque. We’ll recap the sensational win over Barberena, discuss what’s next for him, and hear why he chose to call out Neil Magny and Jorge Masvidal.

Cole Shelton - February 28, 2019

Ben Askren is set to finally make his long-awaited UFC debut on Saturday night when he takes on the former champion, Robbie Lawler at UFC 235. Askren will be fighting at 170 pounds, but he believes he could be fight at 165-pounds sooner rather than later. While UFC President Dana White has denied plans for a 165-pound division on numerous occasions, Askren isn’t buying it. He believes the UFC has already decided to launch the division. Why? Because White denied it.

Tom Taylor - February 28, 2019

A pair of Jon Jones drug tests, administered by the Nevada State Athletic Commission (NSAC) ahead of his UFC 235 fight with Anthony Smith, have once again detected traces of the M3 metabolite, a component of oral turinabol. John Morgan of MMAjunkie reported this development on Twitter on Thursday afternoon.

Cole Shelton - February 28, 2019

Jon Jones is returning to the Octagon not even three months after his last fight. In the main event of UFC 235 this Saturday, the light heavyweight champ will be taking on Anthony Smith, who has gone 3-0 in the division since moving up from middleweight. Ahead of the fight, BJPENN.com reached out to several pro fighters to get their predictions. The majority, as expected, are leaning towards the massive betting favorite in Jones. Yet some also believe Smith will do as he’s promised and shock the world.

Tom Taylor - February 28, 2019

There’s recently been a ton of buzz surrounding a potential lightweight showdown between fan favorite contender Donald Cerrone and former champion Conor McGregor. On Thursday morning, Donald Cerrone gave us reason to believe this fight could be happening quite soon, in the heat of International Fight Week.

Tom Taylor - February 28, 2019

Earlier this week, UFC light heavyweight champ Jon Jones and top contender Anthony Smith once again came face to face ahead of their compelling UFC 235 main event showdown. Speaking to MMA Fighting shortly thereafter, Jon Jones divulged that he might have spotted a weakness during this latest staredown with Anthony Smith.

Tom Taylor - February 28, 2019

If Jon Jones is able to defeat Anthony Smith in the main event of UFC 235 this weekend — the oddsmakers certainly believe he will — it will open the door to more marquee matchups in the light heavyweight division, and perhaps even the heavyweight division. Arguably the two biggest matchups available for a victorious Jones going forward would be a rematch with his arch rival, heavyweight champ Daniel Cormier, and a showdown with former heavyweight champ and WWE star Brock Lesnar.

Tom Taylor - February 28, 2019

This Saturday night, in the co-main event of UFC 235, UFC welterweight champion Tyron Woodley will attempt to defend his welterweight title against fearsome challenger Kamaru Usman. Colby Covington, who is expected to be the next man in line for the Woodley-Usman winner, will be watching this fight closely. And he’s expecting a blowout.

Drake Riggs - February 27, 2019

It has been six years since the former light heavyweight champion Lyoto Machida (25-8) competed in a bout that took place at 205-pounds. However, that appears to be changing for his upcoming fight. According to ESPN, a light heavyweight bout between Machida and the three-time UFC title challenger, Chael Sonnen (31-16-1) is currently being finalized for an event to be determined. Both fighters have reportedly verbally agreed to the bout.

Thomas Taylor - February 27, 2019

Earlier this month, in the main event of the UFC’s first-ever card on ESPN, former UFC heavyweight champ Cain Velasquez returned from a three-year absence to take on deadly puncher Francis Ngannou. Unfortunately, the long-awaited return of the former champion did not go quite the way he planned. Instead, he found himself wilting under a storm of Ngannou punches less than 30 seconds into the first round, clutching in agony onto visibly injured knee.

Drake Riggs - February 27, 2019

Earlier this week, it was reported that UFC Hall of Famer and former two-time welterweight champion Matt Hughes’ wife Audra, and brother Mark had filed restraining orders against him citing several incidents for their reasoning. The details of the incidents are grim as multiple incidents are claimed to have seen Hughes attacking Audra, who has also filed for divorce.

Drake Riggs - February 27, 2019

In 2016, the ‘Underground King’ Eddie Alvarez became the UFC lightweight champion of the world by defeating Rafael Dos Anjos via first-round TKO. Immediately after that, it was expected that we could very well see the unbeaten contender, Khabib Nurmagomedov finally getting his long-awaited UFC title shot. Instead, it would be given to the featherweight champion, Conor McGregor who would make good on it by defeating Alvarez via second-round TKO.

Drake Riggs - February 27, 2019

The last time we saw ‘The Mo-Town Phenom’ Kevin Lee (17-4) in action he was headlining the very last UFC card on the Fox network, UFC on Fox 31 in Milwaukie, Wisconsin. Unfortunately for Lee, he wouldn’t end up walking away as the last person to win on the Fox network.

Tom Taylor - February 27, 2019

Heading into his UFC 235 headlining battle with UFC light heavyweight champ Jon Jones, Anthony Smith has been counted out by a significant portion of the MMA world. That includes the oddsmakers, who have pegged him as a significant betting underdog. Yet when Anthony Smith looks at Jon Jones, he doesn’t see the unbeatable fighter that so many others see. He seems a person who can be beaten any number of ways.

Cole Shelton - February 27, 2019

The UFC returned to our screens on Saturday with the exciting UFC Prague card. In the main event, Thiago Santos took on Jan Blachowicz in an important light heavyweight fight that would propel the winner into title contention.

Tom Taylor - February 27, 2019

UFC welterweight champion Tyron Woodley says he lost $10,000 thanks to a middle-of-the-night visit from the United States Anti-Doping Agency (USADA). This incident occurred in Atlanta earlier this year, right before the Super Bowl. Woodley was scheduled for an appearance that was going to pay him $10,000, but regrettably missed this engagement due to an inconveniently timed visit from USADA.

Tom Taylor - February 27, 2019

The Fight Gods giveth and the Fight Gods taketh away. These eternally merciless deities have accepted their latest sacrifice in the form of a compelling UFC 235 bantamweight fight between Marlon “Chito” Vera and Frankie Saenz. This unfortunate news, a product of illness, was first reported by @TalkMMA on Twitter on Tuesday night and subsequently announced on UFC.com on Wednesday morning.